Now, don't take this as an attack on the members of the Tea Party. I believe, they, or you depending on who is reading this, have good intentions. I know people in the Tea Party. They love America. They know something is wrong with it right now.

But, and this is a big but(t), they are being used. Manipulated by a small group who is using tea partier frustration to get those same people to work in direct conflict with their own interests and well being.

It's the "Swordfish" theory of politics. Misdirection. Look over there at them, while I steal over here. Now look over there at them, while I steal over here now.

Yes, Dear Tea Partier, the government wastes some money. Yes, there are some grifters on the dole who take a few tens of thousands a year out of the system. In fact there are millions of those people. And they are easy to see, thus easy to focus on. Really though, what they steal is a fly spec compared to the bigger dollars being stolen by a much smaller group.

Record banker and Wall Street bonuses in 2009 and 2010? How's that?

Koch brothers dealing with Iran. Wha, wha, what?

This big company paying tens of millions to execs as bonuses for laying people off. That big company doing the same.

"Deregulation, it's what we need" are the scripted and copied cries from droning cloned talk radio.

What we need is honesty and accountability. What we need is support for small and new business. What we need is to realize the problems of this country start at the top of the finanical industry, a few dozen huge corporations and a group of mantra filled politicians on both sides who are frankly on the take.

I think the bank bailout was the precipice for the tea party anger. I myself was originally for the bailout...sigh, but I was wrong.

As for the Koch brothers, I know some people in WI really hate them, but I hold no animosity towards them. However, I do have issues with crony capitalism which seems to be at an all-time high. More competition of private enterprises is the only way to lessen crony capitalism, otherwise it is a race to get in bed with government.

The thing that people have to realize is that the playing field is heavilty tilted to the big companies becaues they can afford to get in bed with gov'ment. Cronies buying pols. Koch Industries is among the biggest cronies in the world.

We need the playing field leveled between small and big business. The healthcare bill actually is a step in the right direction there, as imperect as that bill is. Strict limiting of big business giving to candidates would make a ton of sense. Better enforcement of anti-predatory pricing rules. Closing tax loopholes that benefit the big businesses to the detriment to small businesses needs to be done yesterday. Real enforcement of environmental rules via fewer agencies (the multi-agency model is overkill at this point). Fewer regs on small businesses also makes a ton of sense.

"The thing that people have to realize is that the playing field is heavilty tilted to the big companies becaues they can afford to get in bed with gov'ment."

Couldn't you argue that everyone is being used then? Big business isn't just funding the Tea Party. Big business is funding just about every politician that gets anywhere. There is no difference between the democrats and the republicans...and a good number of voters don't know a single thing about what "their candidate" believes anyways. Nothing will change unless voters start believing that a moderate independant without the support of big business has any chance of winning an election...the media likes to get in the way of that.